Sleepy Hollow S01E08 – “Necromancer”

November 19, 2013ByTars Tarkas

Jenny Mills could take down the apocalypse herself and still have time for dinner

Sleepy Hollow “Necromancer”
Written by Mark Goffman and Phillip Iscove
Directed by Paul Edwards

WHY ISN’T LEGEND ON CRITERION COLLECTION YET?!???

Well, I was wrong, the Headless Horseman didn’t escape in the opening sequence of the next episode, it took him the whole episode to escape. Close enough!

What we get is an Ichabod episode, giving him some much needed characterization, and showing he’s not just a super human sent from the past, but isn’t always perfect and in control. We also get the return of Jenny Mills, being totally awesome as usual. There is Captain Irving kicking butt for a second week in a row, once he stopped being Captain Deny Deny, he’s turned into an action hero (who is still trying to keep everything under wraps, because it is crazy, because people will freak out, and because you don’t know who you can trust.) Katrina appears in this episode, and we find out more of why she’s stuck in limbo.

Fox News is going to have a field day with this Colonial Terrorist Fist Bump!

Don’t worry, villain lovers, we got the return of crazy German Hessians! And lots of demons running around, necromancy (it better with a title like “Necromancer”!), and origin stories of your favorite headless guy who rides a horse. Though the story was a bit convoluted. Things don’t seem to match 100% with what we saw when Ichabod met Katrina. Abraham should have appeared in more episodes before this one, just to inch the emotional impact up a few notches.

Story problems aside, “Necromancer” delivered some good action, conspiracy, and nutso stuff, so I was entertained!

We begin where we ended, with the Headless Horseman captured! This is worth a fist bump, which Abbie teaches to Ichabod, who is both enthused and bewildered. They can’t kill the Headless Horseman, but he is held in a prison designed by Thomas Jefferson to deal with the worst kind of demons. Ichabod theorizes because he was dealing with the French! Oh, France, you’re a punching bag 200 years ago, and still today! The prison features UV lights – which weaken the chained Horseman – and is protected by a hex spell that keeps demons out. Totally secure, I expect it to be destroyed very soon.

Colonial dinner parties were just people hanging around as crazy dudes build junk

InTelevision Reviews

Sleepy Hollow S01E06 – “The Sin Eater”

November 5, 2013ByTars Tarkas

One ring to rule them all, Colonial scum!

Sleepy Hollow “The Sin Eater”
Directed by Ken Olin
Story by Aaron Rahsaan Thomas
Teleplay by Alex Kurtzman & Mark Goffman

Just call me “Library Book” because I’m only checked out of here every few episodes!

Sleepy Hollow has been absent from the airwaves the past few weeks, giving us some time to digest what has been going on. Also to forget a lot of little stuff, were we a more casual viewer. Luckily for the casuals, “The Sin Eater” opens with a brief recap of the prior five episodes, telling us what we need to know to get up to speed.

Demon…or Phantom of the Opera cosplayer???

The theme for “The Sin Eater” is about letting go what you did in the past. You see it both literally with what Ichabod goes through, and demonstratively with Abbie rebuilding her relationship with her sister Jennifer, who Abbie abandoned to a life of mental institutions. Abbie reveals that Ichabod is more than just a working partner for her, he’s someone who helped her find a purpose in life. As Abbie has drifted through life finding people who matter, only to have them taken away, she cannot bear to watch Ichabod be taken as well. It also is rocket fuel for Abbie/Ichabod romance speculations, despite Ichabod’s wife Katrina featuring more heavily in this episode than any prior.

“The Sin Eater” also set up some mythology for the next few episodes, thanks to the appearance of the Freemasons and the hinted return of the Headless Horseman (though this is the second episode in a row where he has “returned” without returning yet!) But the ending feels like the next episode will take place immediately afterwards, with much of the same guest stars popping up, so hopefully things continue to be crazytown and well written.

Have I told you about the advantages of a Time-Share?

InTelevision Reviews

Sleepy Hollow S01E04 – “The Lesser Key of Solomon”

October 8, 2013ByTars Tarkas

My precious!

Sleepy Hollow “The Lesser Key of Solomon”
Written by Damian Kindler
Directed by Paul Edwards

Marion, don’t look at it. Shut your eyes, Marion. Don’t look at it!

This was my favorite episode yet of Sleepy Hollow, it had a well-written reconnection of two family members that both loved each other but had very different goals and lives. There was also a conspiracy of evil Germans, historical WTFs, a mystery, police doing actual police work, crazy demonic stuff, and plenty of cute little scenes. If Sleepy Hollow keeps this quality up, it will be an amazing show.

Since last week, Sleepy Hollow has been renewed for a second season, which means there will be at least one more year of me staying up late at night on Mondays furiously typing notes as my family begs for attention and I scream “NO!” Yes, the title of the series is true, I will be sleepy and will be hollow from lack of interaction with loved ones. Kidding! Like most of my writing, it’s all done after everyone else is fast asleep thanks to the power of being an insomniac.

We’re totally doing this for Liberty and not because smashing stuff is fun!

Sleepy Hollow has taught us that the only Hessians we should ever trust are the Hessians with no Aggression as seen in the Bugs Bunny cartoons. There being a conspiracy cult of Hessians are great, because it allows Sleepy Hollow to have creepy German villains without making them cliched Nazis.

Beam me up, Scotty!

InTelevision Reviews

Sleepy Hollow S01E03 – “For the Triumph of Evil…”

October 1, 2013ByTars Tarkas

Why can’t the horse be headless too?

Sleepy Hollow “For the Triumph of Evil…”
Story by Phillip Iscove
Teleplay by Jose Molina
Directed by John F. Showalter

I hate it when I get dirt in my contacts…

“For the Triumph of Evil…” expands the universe of Sleepy Hollow while still giving a mostly contained story. Side characters and back stories are introduced and expanded, and a creepy nightmare villain haunts Abbie Mills. We get more of Abbie’s sister Jenny, who has been in and out of mental institutions thanks to the encounter both girls had as children. Abbie’s lies over the experience literally come back to haunt her.

Overall, this episode was sufficiently creepy, with a dream villain who did disturbing stuff while looking like he stepped out of a Guillermo del Toro film. Ichabod is starting to get some good lines while still getting his required culture shock of the episode. Did I mention people had their eyes turned into exploding sand??? Because that was some freakasaurus rex material right there! Don’t worry, Abbie and Ichabod teaming up with an American Indian used car salesman to go all Dream Warrior on the Sandman is like a low rent Inception.

Just when you think I’m going full Sarah Conner, I’m only in one scene!

The largest strengths is on Abbie’s regret over betraying her sister all those years ago, of covering up that she saw a blurry demon in the woods and letting Jenny be taken away by the men in white suits. Abbie lets slip that they were foster kids that finally had a good home, and it is not hard to realize that after all Abbie went through, she did not want to risk losing her new family, even if it meant losing her sister.

Now, is this a cool thing to do? Heck no, it’s downright terrible. At the very least she should have told her sister to deny deny deny. Or maybe said something like being groggy when they woke up so maybe they were seeing things and Jenny isn’t crazy. Though Jenny gets hauled away very quickly by creepy guys, almost like they were waiting for any excuse to throw a kid in an asylum. The repeated shots of Jenny pleading with her sister to agree with her statement was harrowing, and having that as a memory of a loved one pleading with you would be disturbing. It being on repeat thanks to a dream revenge monster is a nightmare I’m glad I don’t have to live with. Because I betrayed all my siblings while I was in a separate room. Ha ha, suckers! No nightmares for Tars!

From the writers who created those racist Transformers, huh?

InTelevision Reviews

Sleepy Hollow S01E02 – “Blood Moon”

September 24, 2013ByTars Tarkas

Sleepy Hollow “Blood Moon”
Written by Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and Mark Goffman
Directed by Ken Olin

The worst charity car wash.

Sleepy Hollow returns with another episode that brings the WTF, while still having a few hokey and cheesy parts. The important thing is the level of good to bad is at least equal to the pilot, and arguably better.

We see Sheriff Corbin’s funeral, and find out that Sleepy Hollow has a radio station that plays Sinatra’s Witchcraft at opportune times. But beyond all that, this is the first time we see the snazzy opening credits, which is largely people standing in the dark woods while spooky things happen.

I don’t like this new gritty Pez reboot

The Headless Horseman barely appears, outside of a dream sequence in the beginning. He rides with the other three Horsemen of the Apocalypse, including a guy with a demonic helmet who is instantly the one rider I care about. Ichabod is dreaming they are after him, then is saved by his wife who gives him a warning about the army of evil people who will do evil stuff to pave the way for the really evil people.

Forget the Headless Horseman, I want to know about the Gremlin Darth Vader Horseman!

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